To comply with mobile carrier and legal requirements, it's essential to honor requests of any contact who asks not to be texted again. When a contact asks to be removed from your list, they must be opted out of further texts in your Scale to Win Text account.
Scale to Win Text maintains an Opt-Out List for your account. When you upload a contact list to a campaign, it checks every number against your account's Opt-Out List. Any opted out numbers are automatically excluded from the campaign. In addition, Texters will not be able to view any messages from contacts who have opted out.
Automatic Opt-Out Messages
Scale to Win Text will automatically opt out contacts who reply with specific opt-out keywords or phrases (see full list at the end of this article). Organization Owners and Admins can enable a setting that sends an automatic opt-out confirmation message to contacts who reply with specific opt-out keywords.
Where to enable it: This setting can be toggled on from the Settings page in your account
When messages are sent: The auto-reply will be sent immediately, even if the message comes in outside of texting hours
Billing: These auto-replies are visible on your Usage page, assigned to the associated campaign, and are charged at your standard SMS segment rate.
Viewing Opt-Out Types
In Scale to Win Text, opt-outs are categorized as either Shared or Not Shared, depending on whether they apply across all subaccounts in your account. By default, opt-outs are shared across all subaccounts. If you’d prefer opt-outs isolated to individual subaccounts, please contact support@scaletowin.com.
To view your opt-out data by type, navigate to the Opt-Outs/Strike Lists page. The Opt-Outs/Strike Lists page displays the total number of Opt-Outs, broken down by type:
- Texter Opt-Outs: Contacts manually opted out by Texters in your campaign
- Automatic Opt-Outs: Contacts automatically opted out after replying with an opt-out keyword or phrase (see list below)
- Admin or External Opt-Outs: Added by Admins or higher roles using a CSV upload at the subaccount level
- Temporary Opt-Outs: Temporary opt-outs uploaded via CSV by Admins or higher, typically used for one-time exclusions
- Global Opt-Outs: Lists of phone numbers removed from all future campaigns across all subaccounts (managed from your Organization Settings)
- Spoke Synced Opt-Outs: For clients who previously used Spoke, this shows opt-outs synced between Spoke and Scale to Win Text
- Shared Subaccount Opt-Outs: Displays total number of opt-outs that originated from other subaccounts, if opt-out sharing is enabled
Viewing Opt-Out Statistics by Campaign
To view opt-out statistics for a specific campaign:
Navigate to the Campaigns page and click the name of the campaign you’d like to review. This will open the campaign statistics page.
On the right side of the page, click More Results to expand the campaign’s full statistics.
The automatic opt-outs total will be displayed at the end of the expanded list.
How to Manually Upload Out-Outs
If your organization has an existing external list of Opt-Outs, you can bulk upload those numbers to Scale to Win Text to ensure they are not contacted in future campaigns.
- Navigate to the Opt-Outs/Strike Lists page
- Click the + New List button in the upper right corner. A pop-up window will appear where you can upload the list of opted out phone numbers.
- Name your list so you can easily identify it later.
- Choose your upload method:
- Paste numbers directly into the text box.
- Upload a CSV file containing the phone numbers.
- Click Upload to confirm and complete the process. Now these numbers will appear in your count of Admin or External Opt-Outs.
Once uploaded, these numbers will be included in your total count of Admin or External Opt-Outs, and Scale to Win Text will automatically exclude them from all future campaigns.
How to Manually Opt Out a Contact (Texter View)
Users can manually opt out a contact by clicking the Opt Out button near the bottom of the conversation screen (available in both Texter View and Threads).
Opt Out button in the texter conversation window.
Clicking Opt Out will prompt the texter to confirm the opt out with a second click.
Opt Out confirmation screen. Texters can choose to opt out with or without a message before selecting the red “Opt Out” button to complete the opt out.
How to Reverse Opt-Outs
Note: Only Organization Owners have the ability to reverse opt-outs.
1. Click your initial in the top right corner of the page to navigate to Organization Settings.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on Opt Outs.
3. Click the blue Search button and enter the phone number of the contact you wish to opt in.
4. If the number has been opted out, it will appear in the pop-up window with its opt-out details.
5. Click Reverse Opt Out to opt the contact back in.
Strike Lists
Strike Lists, also known as Temporary Opt-Outs, are lists of phone numbers that are excluded from texting temporarily. These lists apply only to the subaccount they’re uploaded to and do not impact other subaccounts, even if opt-out sharing is enabled..
FAQs
Will opt-outs appear in exports and sync back to VAN?
Yes. All opt-outs, including automatic opt-outs, will appear in your data exports. If you have a VAN Integration set up, opt-will also sync back to VAN with a “Do Not Text" status.
How can I export a list of my opt-outs?
Opt-out exports must be requested from Scale to Win support here. We’ll provide a CSV file for your organization’s opt-outs.
Note: For security reasons, exports can only be sent to account signers. Each subaccount’s opt-outs will have its own export, unless opt-outs are shared.
How can I confirm a contact has been opted out?
Note: Only Organization Owners and Admins can confirm opt-outs.
Navigate to the Opt Outs/Strike Lists page.
Click the Search button.
Enter the phone number in the search bar.
If the number has been opted out, its opt-out details will appear in the pop-up.
I just sent my campaign and there were a number of people who texted STOP to get off the list. Will those contacts automatically be opted out of future texts even if I use the same list?
Yes. Every uploaded contact list is checked against your Opt-Out List, and any opted-out numbers are automatically removed from the campaign. Scale to Win also automatically opts out contacts who respond with known opt-out keywords. A list of supported keywords is included at the bottom of this guide.
What is the average opt-out rate?
There is no single “average” opt-out rate. It depends on many variables:
Quality of your contact list
Whether contacts are expecting texts
Message tone and relevance
Frequency and timing of outreach
Are opt-outs shared across subaccounts? Can I turn this off?
By default, all opt-outs are shared across all subaccounts. To disable this:
Contact support@scaletowin.com.
Note that opt-out sharing is all of nothing. You cannot disable sharing for just one subaccount.
Turning off sharing does not retroactively assign opt-outs to their original subaccount.
If needed, you can request analytics to determine where specific opt-outs originated by contacting support@scaletowin.com.
If I upload a number to our opt-out list, will they get an opt-out notification?
No. When you manually upload numbers to your opt-out list, no notification of message is sent to those contacts.
I’m texting our Spanish speaking audience, is the required opt-out language specific to English?
No,Scale to Win currently recognizes:
“alto”
“Alto = anular la suscripción”
If you have additional phrases you'd like us to screen for, please reach out at support@scaletowin.com and we'll review them.
Why do some contacts report not receiving my texts, even though they’re not opted out?
This is often due to spam filtering by the recipient’s phone carrier. Ask the contact to:
Check their spam/junk folder
Mark your number as “not spam” if found there.
This not only ensures they receive future messages, but also helps sign to phone carriers that your texts are legitimate.